What is the importance of saponification value in daily life?

The higher the saponification value, the lower the fatty acids average length, the lighter the mean molecular weight of triglycerides and vice-versa. Practically, fats or oils with high saponification value (such as coconut and palm oil) are more suitable for soap making.

What is soap and its uses?

Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as thickeners, components of some lubricants, and precursors to catalysts.

What is saponification example?

Saponification is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali (base) with a fat or oil to form soap. Example: Ethanoic acid reacts with alcohols in the presence of a conc. sulphuric acid to form esters. C2H5OH + CH3COOH → CH3COOC2H5 + H2O.

What is the main product of saponification?

Saponification of fats In the traditional one-step process, the triglyceride is treated with a strong base (e.g. lye), which cleaves the ester bond, releasing fatty acid salts (soaps) and glycerol. This process is also the main industrial method for producing glycerol.

What is saponification in physical chemistry?

Saponification can be defined as a “hydration reaction where free hydroxide breaks the ester bonds between the fatty acids and glycerol of a triglyceride, resulting in free fatty acids and glycerol,” which are each soluble in aqueous solutions.

When was soap commonly used?

History of Soap The earliest known soap recipe is credited to the ancient Babylonians around 2800 B.C. Throughout history, soap was medically used for treatment of skin diseases. Common soap bars were invented in the 19th century.

What does saponification do to fat?

1.3 Saponification. Saponification can be defined as a “hydration reaction where free hydroxide breaks the ester bonds between the fatty acids and glycerol of a triglyceride, resulting in free fatty acids and glycerol,” which are each soluble in aqueous solutions.

What are the substances used to make soap?

The chemical makeup of soap is actually rather simple. Soap in its essence consists mainly of oil and lye, which is chemically called sodium hydroxide. Soap fragrances such as lemon and lavender can be added in to leave a pleasant after scent.

Why is it called saponification?

The reaction is called a saponification from the Latin sapo which means soap. The name comes from the fact that soap used to be made by the ester hydrolysis of fats. Due to the basic conditions a carboxylate ion is made rather than a carboxylic acid.

What are the reagent used in saponification?

Saponification is a process by which triglycerides are reacted with sodium or potassium hydroxide (lye) to produce glycerol and a fatty acid salt called “soap.” The triglycerides are most often animal fats or vegetable oils. When sodium hydroxide is used, a hard soap is produced.